RED GARLAND QUINTETS
Featuring John Coltrane
Prestige Profiles Vol. 2

 

The Red Garland entry in the Prestige Profiles series is unusual in that it features Garland in a quintet setting, rather than the more familiar trio. This is good, though, because the quintet recordings both demonstrate Garland as an accompanist to soloists and as a soloist with other soloists to bounce ideas around with. Most of these recordings feature John Coltrane, and so the set is credited to The Red Garland Quintets featuring John Coltrane. The plural of quintet is correct, though, because there are two distinct lineups represented: one with Coltrane and trumpeter Donald Byrd the other with less well-known trumpeter Richard Williams and Oliver Nelson taking the tenor chair.

Of the six tracks featured here, four feature the Coltrane/Byrd group while two feature the Williams/Nelson group. All are essentially jam sessions, with emphasis on solos rather than arrangements or other enhancements. The opener, “Billie’s Bounce” is a long jam session, and Garland shines with his sophisticated, heavily swinging piano style. “Solitiude” allows Garland to be featured on the melodic statement before Byrd and Coltrane solo, at which point he finishes off with a nice solo himself. Fletcher Henderson’s “Soft Winds” features the Williams/Nelson lineup, with Williams using a mute to give a harder edged trumpet sound, and Garland taking off on some high energy flights of fancy before settling into his familiar block chord style. Nelson sounds really fine, maintaining the right amount of rawness in his sound, and Williams’ use of the mute makes him stand out immediately. His subsequent solo demonstrates that he indeed deserved wider recognition.

The fifteen minute “Soul Junction” is the high point of the Coltrane/Byrd group’s sessions on this disc, with Garland setting the stage for the bluesy, late night jam with some deeply felt soul/gospel declarations. Williams and Nelson return for a stylish version of “On Green Dolphin Street” that features Red playing some uncharacteristically dissonant chords on the head. He smooths it out in his solo, though, and gets some sparks flying before handing it off to Nelson, who gets almost outside at the end of his solo. Williams comes back with a muted, Miles-ish solo that balances the proceedings nicely. The collection ends with the Coltrane/Byrd quintet on a quick run through Tadd Dameron’s “Our Delight.”

The bonus disc features-what else?—pianists, including Billy Taylor, Tommy Flanagan, Monk, Ray Bryant, and Mose Alison, plus Coleman Hawkins’ “Red Beans” which features Garland.